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Designing learning processes that contribute to a more sustainable world. Arjen E.J. Wals. 426.000/day. www.chrisjordan.com. 60.000/5sec. 2.000.000/5min. www.chrisjordan.com. www.chrisjordan.com. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Designing learning processes that contribute to a more sustainable world
Arjen E.J. Wals
“The conventional wisdom holds that all education is good, and the more of it one has, the better.… The truth is that without significant precautions, [it] can equip people merely to be more effective vandals of the Earth” (D. Orr).
Recently UNESCO’s (former) Director General Koïchiro Matsuura called for ‘a radical change in the ways we think and act in particular in terms of education and training.’
Systemic Global Issues: CC Example Uncertainty – Natural or unnatural? How
much? When? Where? Good? Bad?
Complexity – Causes, effects, factors, variables, correlations
Indiscriminate – Affecting everybody poor or rich, no matter where you are, in subtle and unsubtle ways
Discriminate – Affecting some more than others – amplifying inequities
‘Planetary’ educations…
health
Peace education
Development education
Health education
Environmental education
Climate change
education
Consumer education
Citizenship education
Sustainable Development: Orwell’s cautionary tale... Erosion of meaning (‘newspeak’)
non-terminology (‘game’ and ‘non-game’) Removal of ambiguity (‘doublethink’)
unification of opposites (‘sustainability is growth’)
Narrowing choices (‘thought police’) prescribing sustainability and the road that will
take us there
Sustainable Development as an ill-defined concept
Meaning depends on the context and the user
Inclusive and hard to narrow down Dynamic in space and time Political: groups with opposing ideologies
use the language of sustainability No universal definition and/or
operationalisation (Dobson 1996)
Staged responses to sustainability (Sterling
2004)
Sustainability transition Response State of sustainability 1 Very weak Denial, rejection or
minimum No change (or token)
2 Weak ‘Bolt-on’ Cosmetic reform 3 Strong ‘Build-in’ Serious greening 4 Very strong
Rebuild or redesign Wholly integrative
A Framework for Facilitating Sustainability
University as University as an institutionan institution Community Community
linkageslinkages
Pedagogy, Pedagogy, learning and learning and instructioninstruction
Contents, Contents, CurriculumCurriculum
ResearchResearchFacilitating Facilitating SustainabiliSustainabili
tyty
An ESD Lens
Integrative – not only the ecological and the environmental, not only the present, not only the local, not only the human world
Critical - questioning continuous economic growth and consumerism and associated lifestyles
Transformative – exploration of alternative lifestyles (e.g. ‘voluntary simplicity’), values and systems that break from existing ones that are inherently unsustainable
Principle Description 1. Total immersion Fostering a direct experience with an authentic
sustainability issue 2. Diversity in
learning styles Being sensitive to the variety of learning styles and preferences that can be found in a single group
3. Active participation
Developing ownership of your own learning by utilising the your own knowledge, experiences and ideas and influencing the route you follow
4. The value of valuing
Exposing yourself to alternative ways of knowing and valuing through self-confrontation
5. Gestalt-switching Cycling between perspectives (time, space, culture, disciplines, etc.)
6. A case-study approach
Digging for meaning by studying an issue in-depth
7. Social dimensions of learning
Mirroring your ideas, experiences and values with those of others – utilizing dissonance
8. Learning for (action) competence
Making the development of action competence an integral part of the learning process
Integrating sustainability: T & L principles
Sustainability Competence?
Transformative learning
Trans-spatial
Gestalt
Trans-cultural
Gestalt
Trans-temporal
Gestalt
Trans-disciplinary
Gestalt
Concluding remarks
Integrating sustainability is just as much about how we teach and learn as it about what we teach and learn.
Sustainability requires more space in curricula for systems thinking, integrative design and multiple ways of knowing.
New forms of teaching require new competencies on the part of teaching staff.
Blurring the boundaries between institutional and community-based learning is essential.
